One of the horror genre's "most widely read critics" (Rue Morgue # 68), "an accomplished film journalist" (Comic Buyer's Guide #1535), and the award-winning author of Horror Films of the 1980s (2007), The Rock and Roll Film Encyclopedia (2007) and Horror Films of the 1970s (2002), John Kenneth Muir, presents his blog on film, television and nostalgia, named one of the Top 100 Film Studies Blog on the Net.

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Friday the 13th: The Series: "Hellowe'en"

Although
Friday
the 13th: The Series features plenty of good episodes, the
best of them invariably feature the late, great R.G. Armstrong as Lewis
Vendredi, original owner of Curious Goods.
Armstrong could really portray a great villain, as one can detect from
his performances in movies such as Race with the Devil (1975). And on Friday the 13th, he made
for a very malevolent, if recurring presence.

“Hallowe’en”
(original airdate, October 26, 1987) is another early first season episode of
this syndicated series, and the first one to feature the return of Vendredi. In this story written by William Taub and directed
by Timothy Bond, Ryan (John D. Le May) and Micki (Robey) host a Halloween
costume party at Curious Goods in an attempt to allay the fears of the (rightfully…)
concerned neighbors. The basement vault
where all the cursed items are locked away is marked as “off-limits” by Ryan for
the occasion, but two partiers ignore the warning and conjure up a spirit in a
glowing crystal ball: the spirit of Vendredi, himself.

While
Jack (Chris Wiggins) is mysteriously led away from the party (and Micki and
Ryan) by a lost little trick-or-treater, Greta (Adrienne Pocock), Vendredi
appears as a ghost in Curious Goods and begs Micki and Ryan for their help with
an act of mercy. He claims to desire
only to save the soul of his long-suffering, deceased wife, Grace. He even takes them to her corpse…which
happens to be in a secret room in the store.

But
in truth, Vendredi seeks only a powerful relic called the Amulet of Zohar so he
can make himself flesh for a few hours…until
daylight. Misled by their uncle,
Micki and Ryan give Vendredi what he needs to save Grace, and then learn they
have been deceived, and that he has roughly three hours on Halloween night to
find an undamaged corpse where he can permanently house his soul.

Unfortunately
for Micki, Ryan and Jack, they must also contend with a demon dwarf, Greta
(Victoria Deslaurier) who has come from Hell to do Vendredi’s diabolical bidding…

“Hellowe’en”
proves a rather bizarre episode in the canon, in part because of the
aforementioned demon dwarf (described in the teleplay and episode as a “midget,”),
Greta. At first she appears as a
cute-as-a-button little girl, but then she literally becomes a hell spawn, with
the power to levitate and hypnotize victims.

The
episode’s climax descends into something like high camp as Ryan and Micki
attempt to escape from Greta in a mortuary, and she tears the place up, pulps
coffins and attempts to keep them away from Vendredi as he conducts his
all-important ritual. Greta as a soldier
villain from hell -- small in size; big
instature -- adds an unusual
wrinkle to the story, for certain.

Otherwise,
you have to wonder about a plot-line that sees Micki and Ryan hosting a
Halloween party just one floor above a repository for hundreds of cursed
antiques. That’s just asking for
trouble, certainly, and probably not the brightest move, wary neighbors or
not. On the other hand, one of the
welcome character touches on Friday the 13th: The Series
(at least starting out) is that Micki and Ryan are naïve and inexperienced, and
they make mistakes. They aren’t
professionals, and they clearly have a lot to learn about battling ghosts and
demons.. If they pulled this stunt in
the second season, it would seem a lot dumber, but since “Hallowe’en” is the fifth
episode of the first season, perhaps the narrative isn’t so far-fetched.

After
“Hellowe’en,” R.G. Armstrong returned in four additional Friday the 13th: The
Series episodes including “What A Mother Wouldn’t Do” (about a cradle
from the Titanic), “Bottle of Dreams,” the second season premiere “Doorway to
Hell,” and “Night Hunger.”

About John

award-winning author of 27 books including Horror Films FAQ (2013), Horror Films of the 1990s (2011), Horror Films of the 1980s (2007), TV Year (2007), The Rock and Roll Film Encyclopedia (2007), Mercy in Her Eyes: The Films of Mira Nair (2006),, Best in Show: The Films of Christopher Guest and Company (2004), The Unseen Force: The Films of Sam Raimi (2004), An Askew View: The Films of Kevin Smith (2002), The Encyclopedia of Superheroes on Film & Television (2004), Exploring Space:1999 (1997), An Analytical Guide to TV's Battlestar Galactica (1998), Terror Television (2001), Space:1999 - The Forsaken (2003) and Horror Films of the 1970s (2002).

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